Like A Falling Star
by Loads of Randomness
Summary: Prequel to my Falling Series. This is a story about Tonks' life until we meet her in the books. Let's follow her as she falls over her own feet, trips over her words, stumbles into danger but always finds the strength to haul herself back up again.
1. Prologue

Wotcher everyone, my name's Nymphadora Andromeda Tonks but use my first name and I can guarantee that you will be on the receiving end of a very nasty hex. Trust me on that, just four hours ago I caused Mad-Eye (yes, _the_ Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody, Best bloody Auror the Ministry has ever had) to sprout blue feathers. I ran away pretty quickly after that, there was no way I was going to leave myself to the mercy of that mad, old Auror.

So, right now I am hiding away in Remus Lupin's room at Grimmauld Place. To be exact I am behind the door and he is reading on his bed, smirking in my direction every so often probably imagining what Mad-Eye is going to do to me, the git.

I wonder were my demonic and idiotic cousin, Sirius Black, is? Actually, if I can't hear or see him I don't want to know. Sirius may be my favourite cousin but he can be annoying in large doses. He's been hanging around me all week and it's flying me crazy! He claims that it's because he missed so much time with me that he's trying to make up but I think he just likes to be annoying.

Yes, everyone, my cousin is the one and only Sirius Black: Mass Murderer and Escapee of Azkaban Prison. But, as I have quite recently found out, that's all a lie.

If you'd have asked me three weeks ago that I would willingly hang around Sirius and be in a secret society for bringing V-v-voldemort down I would've laughed in their faces and advised them that they should get their heads checked out.

Now, it doesn't seem too bad although I still can't believe that I, the clumsy, foul mouthed, metamorphmagus Auror, got acceptance from the members of the Order of the Phoenix. Mind you, none of the members are completely normal so that might have something to do with it.

I think joining the Order was one of the best times of my life, excluding becoming a fully-fledged Auror. We all had at least one thing in common and I got reunited with a family member! And met a really cute guy...

Suddenly someone barged into Remus' room, the door almost hit my face but Remus grabbed it with lightening fast reflexes. I smiled in relief at him and we both turned to the culprit; Sirius.

"Hey Moony, little Nym," he greeted happily, obviously unaware of my angry look and turned to face me. "You know, Moody's still looking for you."

I grinned, "I know and I don't plan on seeing him until he's given up."

Sirius laughed, "Well, that gives us plenty of time together!"

Remus looked at him warily, "And why don't you think I won't just shove you out of my room?"

Sirius widened his eyes like a dog, "Cause you wouldn't want to ever, ever get rid of me, would you?"

Remus groaned and motioned Sirius to sit down and for me to come out from behind the door.

"So, Nymmie, what have you been up to?" Sirius asked as I sat beside him on Remus' bed. "The only memory I have of you is when me and the other marauders babysitting you when you were six and you turned James' hair pink but even that's hazy..."

I was about to inform him that there was no way I was going to talk about my younger self to someone I was thirteen years younger than. But seeing Sirius look at me, I just couldn't say no. I mean, there was no way I could imagine losing all of my happy memories so I should help him remember.

"Well," I started, getting myself comfortable, "It was in June..."


	2. Warning: Idiots in this chapter

Date: 4th June 1989

"Mu-um, I don't want a ribbon in my hair! It'll just fall out anyway!" protested a young girl with long chestnut brown hair with turquoise streaks.

A woman with dark brown, wild, curly hair sighed and asked her young daughter, "Don't you want to look pretty, Nymphadora?"

Nymphadora scrunched up her face at the use of her proper name and told her mother rather matter-of-factly, "You and daddy say I look pretty no matter what I look like."

Her mother almost groaned in exasperation, why was it now that her six year old daughter remembered what her and Ted said to her? Couldn't she have remembered when she was climbing a tall tree or talking about magic in public?

"And anyway," the child continued, oblivious to her mother's vexation. "It's only cousin Sirius and his friends, I've met them before. There's nothing special about them." Nymphadora added a petulant stomp to emphasise her point.

Andromeda hid a smile at this gesture, her daughter couldn't know how much she amused her most of the time.

"Alright," she agreed, putting the ribbon away. "The turquoise goes well with you brown hair."

Nymphadora beamed, "I thought so. All Sirius' friends say I'm like a rainbow!"

Andromeda hugged her child, "My little rainbow" then they heard five 'cracks' of apparition, "That will be them. Go get the door."

Nymphadora scampered out her room and down the stairs. There was a 'thud' as she collided with the door. She reached for the handle and pulled it towards her, stumbling a bit, and opened the door. Three boys and two girls faced her.

"Hi!" she greeted.

"Why, hello, Nymmie!" replied a boy, who looked similar to her mother, swinging her in the air.

She giggled and shouted "Sirius! Put me down!" with all the muster a six year old can.

"Yeah, Sirius, put her down!" taunted a slighter shorter boy with messy black hair.

"Hi, James!" Nymphadora greeted from her now upside down position.

"Sirius," scolded a girl with stunning green eyes. "All the blood is rushing to her head"

"And her hair," added the final boy, looking at her hair which was blood red at the tips.

Sirius hastily put Nymphadora down and as soon as she got her bearings back she kicked Sirius in the shins and hugged Lily, "Thank you, Lily," and then looked across at the other boy and did the same, "Thanks, Remus."

"Am I not getting a hug?" demanded a girl's voice; Nymphadora peered around Remus and saw Marlene McKinnon, a recent addition to the group who visited the Tonks'.

Nymphadora darted around Remus and hugged Marlene around the legs. Marlene returned the hug and started to tickle her mercilessly until Lily rescued Nymphadora.

As Sirius lead the way inside Andromeda came downstairs, smiling at them all. She shepherded them into the living room, where Ted was watching television.

"Thanks for doing this, Sirius," Andromeda said, hugging her cousin.

"No problem, Andy. You and Ted deserve a night out, especially since you're raising Miss-my-face-likes-the-floor."

"Hey!" protested Nymphadora, pouting causing everyone to laugh and the nearest one's to ruffle her hair.

Andromeda walked across the room and gave her daughter a kiss goodbye and a warning, "Remember to behave, missy!"

Nymphadora looked up at her mother with baby blue eyes, "Shouldn't you say that to Sirius, James and Remus, mummy?"

Everyone laughed again while the present marauders pouted in a very manly way. Andromeda rolled her eyes and apparated away with Ted.

"Now that the adults are out of the way-"started Sirius

"Aren't you an adult, Siri?" interrupted Nymphadora

Lily looked at Sirius and then back at Nymphadora, "Please say you're joking, Nymphadora."

Nymphadora thought for a bit and then nodded, "Now, what do we do?"

"Let's play a game!" said James excitedly ensuring that he received wary glances from everyone else.

"Um, what will we play?" asked Marlene.

"That a six year old can play also," added Lily.

That stumped James but Sirius came up with a solution, "Truth or Dare!"

Lily thought for a bit and then told Sirius sternly, "None of your 'special dares'."

Sirius nodded, he didn't need to get in trouble with Andy or Lily, they were scary. After a couple of minutes of explaining the rules to Nymphadora they were all settled in a circle looking expectantly at Lily who had been unanimously voted as the appropriate person to start.

"Okay, Remus," began Lily. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth," replied Remus decidedly

"You're no fun, Moony," whined Sirius, Remus glared at him and returned his gaze to Lily.

Lily grinned mischievously, "Who was that girl I saw you with two days ago?"

Remus spluttered and turned bright red before answering with great reluctance, "Emily Stuart."

And so the game continued; Marlene had to apparate onto the roof and wave cheerfully at passing muggles, James admitted to having a stuffed bear and discovered that Sirius couldn't dance the cancan.

Now it was Sirius' turn. Oh no.

Sirius gazed around at his highly nervous audience. Finally his eyes rested on Nymphadora who was so nervous her hair had turned orange-brown.

"Nymmie... Truth or Dare?" he declared in a menacing voice.

"Um... Dare," she decided, it was better than spilling her secrets.

Sirius thought for a moment, wondering what he could dare his youngest cousin to do without getting anyone too angry. Then a grin blossomed across his face, "I dare you to...kiss Moony on the lips!"

"What?" spluttered Remus, face turning a dull shade of red.

Nymphadora looked at Sirius, then at Remus before shrugging and planting a kiss on Remus' lips then scurrying away quickly with bright red hair. Remus just blinked in surprise.

* * *

><p>"And that's all I remember," I finished, looking at my captivated audience. "Why did I turn James' hair pink?"<p>

"I think he called you Rainbow head," Sirius mused. "You didn't like that."

"I think you were aiming to turn him into a rainbow head, though." added Remus.

"Was this before or after my dare?" I asked curiously.

Sirius roared with laughter as I kept my head down and Remus had a faint blush on his cheeks.

"I c-can't believe I ever d-did that," Sirius choked out.

I said, "You better."

Remus groaned, "I had forgotten that night, didn't your mother and father come home to Marlene wearing her own knickers on her head?"

I thought for a moment, "I'm not entirely sure but I think so."

Sirius had sobered up and looked up at me (he had ended up lying on his stomach during the story), "Can I hear more about your life? I feel really bad for missing all of it."

"That wasn't your fault," I automatically replied. "And okay. Um, do you want a Hogwarts memory?"

"Why don't you just tell him in order, do you have any other memories before Hogwarts, Nymphadora?" Remus said logically although I glared at him for using my first name.

I tried to recall some memories and discovered that I had at least another three from before Hogwarts. Now, which one was the earliest one?


	3. Tainted Innocence

"I was glad when you lot came over, when you could," I said to Remus and Sirius. "I remember asking mum why you," I looked at Sirius, "Didn't come round as often. She told me you were fighting against the Death Eaters."

"I forgot that most of your childhood was during the war," commented Remus, looking thoughtful.

I nodded, most of my childhood memories have echoes of fear in them. The war was never far from my mind even as a child. Sure, there were some really sunshine-y moments but there was always that niggling feeling that this wouldn't last.

"Dad had to hide the newspapers from me," I said. "So I wouldn't get nightmares from the stories like when I read about a muggle village being massacred..."

* * *

><p>Date: 24th August 1980<p>

Seven year old Nymphadora attempted to skip down the stairs only to succeed in skidding down them and bumping her elbow against a table.

Ted Tonks had run out into the hallway from the loud crash and lifted his young daughter up.

"Morning, Rainbow," he said cheerfully as she clung to him, sniffling a bit. Ted looked at her questioningly and she held out her elbow in response. He gently kissed the bruise forming, making her giggle.

Andromeda appeared at the top of the stairs and called down, "Is Nymphadora alright?"

The seven year old poked out her tongue at her name, which made her father chuckle.

"Dora's fine, 'Dromeda," Ted replied jovially. "No worse than usual."

Andromeda sighed and returned to whatever she was doing upstairs. Ted set his squirming daughter at the kitchen table as he made himself a pot of coffee. As Dora was swinging her legs the owl that delivered the newspaper arrived. Fishing out three knuts from the jar by the window for this purpose, Dora paid the owl and retrieved the paper.

Normally Dora tried to make out some of the words on that paper before her father read it. She was very proud of her reading skills; Dora only had problems with the big words with five or more letters now!

Dora puzzled over the big, black headlines of the Daily Prophet. They were always the easiest because they were made to catch people's attention so they were short and simple which was perfect for beginner readers, like Dora.

"Hug-ee Muh-gil Mass-ah-cree in Hamp-shy-er" she sounded out softly to herself. Then she frowned.

"Daddy!" she called. "What's a Mass-ah-cree?"

"What, dear?" asked Ted, focusing more on trying to find the eggs in the fridge.

"What's a Mass-ah-cree?" Dora repeated, moving her gaze to the picture to see if that would give her a clue. She gasped as her eyes found the picture.

There were the charred ruins of a town square with the dark mark above it. That, unfortunately, wasn't the scariest part of it; there must have been about twenty maybe thirty bodies, or what Dora assumed to be bodies, of dead muggles. Although the picture was in black and white, Dora knew that the dark liquid pooling the area was blood. She had never seen so much of it before, the most she had seen was the broad trickle of blood when she got that gash on her knee when she caught her leg on a jagged rock in the river.

Ted had run in at her gasp and snatched the newspaper out of her loose hand. He also gasped but in horror rather than surprise.

Andromeda had entered the kitchen and looked over Ted's shoulder to peer at the headlines. Her face went white at the horror and devastation that people could inflict on their fellow human beings.

"What's that?" Dora asked, tears brimming in her murky green eyes.

"Bad things, Dora," replied her mother sadly. "Which that bad man Voldemort did, remember we told you?"

She nodded unsurely, all Dora remembered was that he was a bad man who did bad things, then her parents shooed her outside so they could discuss things with a strict warning to stay in the boundaries of the garden. Dora immediately cheered up, how often did she get to play before breakfast?

She happily ran around the garden, pretending to her heart's content. That uneven twig was the perfect wand and over on that blank space of grass was a perfect fighting place.

The face of one particular dying woman occasionally flashed across her eyes as she pretended to slay the 'Dead Eaters'. Dora involuntarily shuddered as she remembered the pain in that unknown woman's eyes and the horrible angles at which her limbs were bent. She dropped the stick she had been playing with, somehow killing people, even bad men, didn't seem to be as fun anymore.

That night was even worse, during the day it was easy to forget the horrors that raged on around her life when there were flowers to pick and places to explore.

As soon as dusk fell Dora scampered inside, not wanting Dementors or any evil creature to snatch her up in their clutches and deliver her to the evil people.

Curled up in her bed with the light switched off (she was a big girl now, the dark wasn't scary!) the dancing shadows were those 'dead eaters' creeping all around her and her fuzzy red rug, so soft in the daytime, was a pool of blood surrounding her favourite teddy bear.

"Mumm-eeee, Dadd-eeee!" Dora wailed, running into her parents' bedroom.

Ted waved his wand to provide some light. Andromeda took one look at her tearstained face and beckoned her over. Dora snuggled into her mother's embrace and finally relaxed once Ted wrapped his arms around both females. Nothing would happen to her when she was with her parents. After all, who would dare cross them?

* * *

><p>Sirius was staring at me, which made me feel uncomfortable.<p>

"What?" I asked him, backing slowly into Remus.

"I was just thinking," Sirius replied.

"Hide while you can, Nymphadora," teased Remus, eyes lighting up with mischief. "Sirius Black thinking is always dangerous!"

Sirius pouted but replied, "None of us ever wondered how it affected kids during the war, did we?"

He was obviously directing that question towards Remus who nodded guiltily.

"I think you lot had enough to worry about without wondering how little kids were dealing with it," I scolded them, wanting them to feel better. "Children are more resilient than adults."

Sirius' face finally relax and a cheerful grin broke across his face, "I guess so, Little Cousin" I growled at the nickname, "So even back then you wanted to fight back and destroy the 'Bad men'?"

I blushed in embarrassment, why did I tell him that? Even Remus was chuckling!

"Meanie!" I whined, glowering at them childishly.

The two marauders just laughed at me, how could they? After about thirty seconds I began to get annoyed so I bashed their heads together.

"Alright, alright, we'll stop," spluttered Remus, wiping tears from his eyes.

"Next memory!" demanded Sirius, bouncing on the bed.

Remus yanked him down and Sirius landed heavily on us, forcing my right side to press painfully into the mattress. That reminded me of the scars I had just on my collar bone on that side.

"You won't like this memory much, Siri," I warned before retelling my next memory.


	4. Pure Terror

Date: 18th January 1981

Dora and Andromeda Tonks were making their way through the cold streets of Diagon Alley. They had just left Madame Malkins after spending ages getting measured for new dresses (There was a Ministry Ball coming up and she couldn't wear her Christmas dress apparently). It took forever!

Now they were making their way towards the Apothecary, forcing their way through crowds of people intent on pursuing the New Year's Sales. Dora's hand was clasped firmly in Andromeda's for this very reason and so she didn't constantly trip on the cobblestones.

Dora contemplated her day. It was okay as far as long, boring shopping trips went. At least the shops were warm but her mother had refused her ice cream, saying she would freeze her insides if she ate it. Where was daddy when you needed him? He always snuck her ice cream when her mother wasn't looking, uncaring about the weather. Andromeda had given her a small packet of fire imps instead which made her giggle when she got the hiccups and sent out plumes of fire from her mouth.

They had bumped into a blonde woman who was very nasty and looked down at her like she was dirt. The woman also called Andromeda a 'Blood traitor' and Ted a 'Mudblood' whatever they were. Dora received the name 'half-blood, freakish brat' which made Andromeda glare furiously at the mean woman.

Unfortunately neither female noticed two dark blue, almost black, eyes staring at them hatefully from a shady alley.

They unconcernedly walked past the said alley, Dora now skipping, well, make that trying to skip. She wasn't the most co-ordinated seven year old girl on the planet after all.

Suddenly a hard hand grabbed Dora's shoulders and another one wrapped its way around her mouth before she could cry out.

"Shut up, brat," hissed a bone chilling voice as the person dragged little Dora further away from mummy.

Dora cried out against the hand, tears forming in her now yellow eyes. She looked up at the scary person to see that it was a woman. A woman that had curly hair like her mother's but it was a forbidding black instead of a warm brown and was an untamed frizz instead of wild curls.

"Nymphadora? Dora!" called Andromeda, running up the thinning street and spotted her daughter just beyond the entrance of the smelly alley.

Andromeda's eyes found her daughter's and upon seeing the pure fear in them looked behind her. Her eyes followed the pale hand clamping down hard on Dora's tender shoulder and faced;

"Bellatrix," Andromeda whispered, terror coursing through her veins.

The woman, Bellatrix cackled softly.

"Why hello, 'Meda," Bellatrix sneered.

"Don't call me that!" Andromeda snapped.

Dora's eyes flickered nervously between the two similar women, unsure whether she should try and wriggle free. The woman's fingers pressed harder into the skin on her collarbone when she squirmed so Dora decided it was safer to stay put.

Bellatrix chucked darkly, making the hairs on the back of Dora's neck tingle.

"Forgotten your family roots already, 'Meda?" Bellatrix taunted then look down her nose at Dora. "I wouldn't be surprised if you have, since you have this freakish brat."

Bellatrix had released her mouth so Dora screamed through tears, "Mummy!"

Andromeda's face tightened in pain and drew her wand, pointing it at Bellatrix.

"Let her go," Andromeda pleaded

The two women had drawn a crowd around them. The people were whispering and pointing.

"That's Bellatrix Lestrange!"

"She's a Death Eater."

Their comments only made Bellatrix cackle loudly, scaring everyone present. Dora tried again to get away now that her mother was so close.

Bellatrix only clamped her hand harder down into her shoulder, sharp nails biting into unblemished skin. Dora cried out in pain.

The women present in the crowd gasped. Andromeda was shaking in fury but all of this seemed to amuse Bellatrix.

"Please, she didn't do anything to you Bella!" Andromeda implored, unwilling to use violence when her daughter could be used as a shield.

Bellatrix scoffed, "Oh, now it's 'Bella', little sister?"

Dora looked up in amazement; mummy had never ever said that she had a sister. Bellatrix saw her astonished look and grabbed her hair with her other hand, which wasn't painfully digging into her shoulder, pulling her head back. Dora whimpered again, not wanting to be at the mercy at the mad woman.

"Yes, little freakish brat, I'm your Auntie Bella," Bellatrix hissed. "Didn't your mother ever tell you?"

Dora frantically shook her head, her body trembling.

"Pity," Bellatrix replied mockingly, twisting Dora's hair. "You even look vaguely like a Black, no thanks to your mudblood of a Father."

Dora had been so scared that her morphing abilities had failed her. The young girl tried shake her head away from Bellatrix's grasp, knowing escape was futile but wanted her head away from that woman or she'd have no hair left!

"Don't insult my husband and release my daughter," Andromeda said, eerily calm but her brown eyes were flashing.

"I'll do whatever I want with your half blood brat," snapped Bellatrix, pulling Dora closer to her. Beads of the child's blood appeared around her nails.

Bellatrix threw back her head and laughed. She replaced the hand clenching Dora's shoulder with her other one and showed Andromeda her fingers which were stained with Dora's red blood.

"I guess we can all see how filthy your brat's blood is now!" the mad woman screeched.

Dora's body shook with uncontrollable sobs.

"Not Nymphadora, please. Not my daughter, Bellatrix!" begged Andromeda helplessly.

Bellatrix looked down at Dora and back at Andromeda, "Nymphadora? I guess you can't take the Black out of the girl even if the girl escapes," she jeered.

All of a sudden, grey robed Aurors apparated in front of Bellatrix. Bellatrix shoved Dora forwards and disapparated with a loud crack. Dora saw the ground rushing up towards her face but Andromeda caught her child before anymore more harm could come to her. Dora burst into tears and Andromeda lifted her up into her arms like she was a toddler and held her close.

* * *

><p>"I still have scars from where that bitch held me," I told Remus and Sirius, nudging my shirt down past my shoulder to show them the pale white, small, jagged scars.<p>

"That fucking bitch," Sirius growled, looking like he wanted to punch something, preferably Bellatrix, hard.

"I know," I agreed, nodding my head. Really, I just wanted to forget that particular memory.

Remus must've noticed this and asked me, "Weren't you curious about your mother's family after that?"

I smiled at him, thankful for the distraction, "Yeah, as soon as I got home I had a lot of questions..."


	5. Who, What, When, Where, Why?

"I bet you did," said Remus, smiling softly at me.

"It's because she's nosey," Sirius teased with a broad grin on his face, Remus frowned at him. I smacked him round the head for that.

My cousin was so different than polite and quiet Remus, maybe that's why they were friends. It was either that or him and James dragged him into one of their schemes at some point and poor Remus got stuck with them.

"Well, I was in shock until dinner. My dad came home from work early because he heard what happened. Nothing really happened 'til dessert..."

* * *

><p>Date: later, the same day.<p>

Andromeda took out the container of Wall's ice cream once the family of three had finished their dinner of pork chops and chips. For once Dora didn't complain about having to eat carrots. Her father found it funny that she would eat anything green (besides brussel sprouts, duh) but point blank refused to touch carrots or any other coloured vegetable.

"Was that mean lady your sister, mummy?" Dora asked innocently, that woman-Bellatrix had said so.

Andromeda dropped the bowls she had been carrying over and they shattered with a 'CRASH'

"Reparo," muttered Ted hastily while giving his wife a concerned look as she supported herself on the kitchen counter.

Andromeda looked helplessly at her daughter who was looking curiously back at her.

Ted coughed, "Maybe we should do this in the living room," he suggested.

Andromeda nodded weakly. Dora hopped off her chair and followed her parents to the living room. Once they were all settled on the comfy brown sofas, Ted holding Dora on his knee so Andromeda could focus, Dora was extremely curious. Were her parents hiding something?

Andromeda took a deep breath before answering, "Did I ever tell you about my family, Nymphadora?"

Dora shook her head, "I thought they were dead, like grandma Tonks."

Andromeda muttered under her breath, "They're as good as dead," but said louder, "Before I explain anything I shall say that yes, that 'mean lady' was my older sister, Bellatrix."

Dora's surprised face would have been a funny sight if the topic wasn't so serious. Her mouth was agape and her hair was neon green.

"Why is she so mean when you're so nice? Does that mean you have a younger sister too? Who is it? Have I met any?" Dora asked in rapid succession.

Ted chuckled at her insight, she so got her intelligence from him.

"My parents weren't nice people, Nymphadora," explained Andromeda. "They were dark wizards. Me and Sirius are the only light one's out of the nine of us."

"There are nine of you?" Dora asked, amazed. How come she'd only seen two of them?

"Were. My mother's dead." Andromeda replied shortly.

Dora looked down at her knees, "Sorry mummy." Ted gently tugged the back of her hair to make her look up at her mother.

"Don't be," Andromeda told her. "She was a horrible mother. She didn't care for me, only appearances. My sisters and I were expected to be perfect pureblood princesses."

"But you told me no one's perfect!" Dora said accusingly

"And we're right, little Rainbow," assured Ted, stroking her hair.

"My sisters were that woman Bellatrix and Narcissa."

Dora just gave her a blank stare.

"The blonde woman who called you nasty names today," Andromeda clarified.

Dora wrinkled up her, at the minute, button nose, "Why are your family nasty people, mummy?"

"Sirius isn't nasty," reminded Ted.

"They just are, I guess." Andromeda said, not knowing how much detail she should go into with her seven year old daughter.

"But Sirius is weird anyway!" protested Dora. "What happened to you all?"

Andromeda looked thoughtful, "Well, before you were even born Bellatrix became a Death Eater. Regulus joined her last year, I think."

"Why?" asked Dora, how could anyone related to mummy be dark?

"Because they are evil, twisted -"began Ted.

"Ted," Andromeda said warningly. Ted was immediately silenced and Dora giggled.

"Your father is unfortunately correct, Nymphadora," admitted Andromeda. "Narcissa decided to play the trophy wife-"

"What?" interrupted Dora, confused.

"Mean, boastful and arrogant wife," Ted told her helpfully

Andromeda glared at her husband again but continued, "I had to escape the family just to marry your dad when I was eighteen because they hated anything less than a pureblood."

"Stupid," muttered Dora rebelliously. "When did Sirius escape?"

"He was lucky to have the Potter's to fall back on, he escaped at sixteen." Andromeda told her cheerfully not that she was talking about her favourite Black family member.

Dora looked thoughtful and then asked nervously, "What about your daddy and Sirius' mummy and daddy?"

A dark look crossed Andromeda's face as she answered, "He doesn't see me as his daughter anymore, I'm disowned. As is Sirius."

Dora was upset that she caused her mummy so much grief. She hopped off her daddy's comfortable lap and hugged her mother.

"Sorry mummy," she mumbled into Andromeda's skirt.

"It is okay, Dora," Andromeda assured her. "You have a right to know."

Mother and daughter stayed like that until Ted cut the comfortable moment short, "Now, what happened to that ice cream?"

"ICE-CREAM!" yelled Dora, happy to have all her questions answered. Although she was horrified by some of the answers, it was good that mummy found daddy or who knew what would have happened?

* * *

><p>Sirius was busy laughing his head off; I had to imitate Bellatrix to get him to shut up. Eurgh, I never want to do that again. Just morphing into a look alike made me feel the urge to take a shower to wipe the slime off.<p>

Then I had to laugh at his horrified and then relieved expression. We both noticed that Remus was looking at us funny.

"What?" I asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable at being scrutinised at such close quarter by a man I hope to consider my friend.

Somehow we had all ended up sitting in a semicircle on Remus' bed. I was against the wall with my legs folded, Remus was sitting right of me on the edge of his bed and Sirius had control of the pillow at the head of the bed.

Remus continued looking at me, "You and Sirius have the same way of laughing."

Sirius looked confused, as did I probably, and he summed up my thoughts accurately, "Huh?"

"But we laugh differently," I told Remus. "Sirius has a bark like laugh and- "

"Yours bubbles up and then explodes," finished Remus. "I know. I meant, when you both laugh you both throw your heads back and wear pretty much the same expression."

"Damn," I said mock sadly. "I am related to him after all."

"Oi!" was Sirius' indignant and very eloquent reply.


	6. Boring Balls and Pranking Purebloods

Remus was smirking at us both. "Loath I am to say something like Bellatrix Lestrange, but you unfortunately can't deny your blood."

I glared at him, "I can and will," I told him petulantly. Sirius nodded in agreement.

"Thank Merlin that Bellabitch is in prison," said Sirius.

I couldn't help but agree. We all sat in silence for a bit, it wasn't an uncomfortable one for we were at ease with each other.

"What happened at the Ministry Ball?" enquired Remus curiously.

"Nothing," I attempted to reply without emotion but my nose scrunched up in remembrance.

Sirius pointed a finger at me, "Ha! What happened?"

Remus sighed, "You've made him curious now,"

I gave him a disbelieving look, "And not you as well?"

He smiled guiltily, "Yes, me as well."

I rolled my eyes to the heavens, "Well, mum eventually got me into my dress and we left at about five for the Ministry. They left me in an area in the ballroom for children from five to eleven..."

* * *

><p>Date: 30th January 1981<p>

Dora Tonks was sitting at a small table by herself, bored out of her mind at the Ministry Ball. Dora didn't even know what the dratted thing was for, someone important made a big donation to somewhere.

Her father had persuaded her that her natural hair colour was very pretty, especially with the dress her mother picked out. Dora was the type of girl to prefer shorts and t-shirts of skirts and leggings over dresses but even she had to admit that this dress was pretty. It was a pale pink that just hit her knees with a fuchsia pink sash around her waist, nothing over the top or frilly, thankfully. On her feet Dora wore her favourite white strappy sandals with long white socks that refused to stay up.

The other children were more posh and snobby than her. Most of them were upper class pureblood kids who were just realising that blood was important. She did have friends at these functions but they hadn't arrived yet. Most normal people didn't turn up until the dinner and stayed after, when there was dancing.

No, her parents had to come early to 'mingle' with people, whatever THAT was. Now she was bored out of her mind.

"Dorrie!" yelled an excitable blonde haired girl while bulldozing her way across the cordoned off area. The young girl was receiving many displeased looks and annoyed glares from the other children.

"Sammie," Dora greeted softly, aware of the other children's looks even if Samantha Burns wasn't.

Samantha flung herself into the chair next to her and grinned broadly at Dora. Dora couldn't help but mirror her. They were good friends at these Balls and always had fun together. Why, at the Christmas Ball they had tied the snobbiest of the kids up with tinsel.

"What's up?" Samantha asked chirpily, looking around her.

"Nothing much, no one else has come yet and they have decided that ignoring me is best," replied Dora, pointing at the pureblood snobby children.

"Awww, that's no fun," said Samantha, smirking. "We should do something to them again."

Dora smiled at the very thought and told her friend, "Mum said that I'm not 'llowed to make a scene at least until the adults start dancing."

"That's no fun!" whined Samantha kicking her legs under her blue, poufy skirt of her dress. The adults never danced until after the dinner.

"I know," said Dora emphatically.

Until dinner started the two friends amused themselves by pulling faces at the snobby children, generally annoying the snobby children and planning ways to trick the snobby children. Basically, it was another normal Ball for the two of them.

Slowly other children started to arrive. There was James Abbot and Davy Wells, both who were the same age as Dora. Sammie's cousins Jonathan and Freda Burns (ten and five respectively) quickly joined the two of them.

"So, what should we do?" asked little Freda loudly. Sammie quietened her; it was Freda's first time in the kid's area so she didn't know what happen when the other three got together.

"I brought these," said Jonathan, holding out a packing of magical bangers.

"What's they?" asked Freda.

"Bangers," replied Dora. "You chuck them somewhere and when they hit the ground they make a loud noise and create a bright light."

"It'll scare the life out of them," added Sammie.

The four of them grinned evilly, well as evilly as a five, six, seven and ten year old could do. Soon the dinner was served and all the children tucked in with the normal growing child appetite. It didn't matter if you were a pureblood or half-blood now; a hungry child was a hungry child.

Before long all the plates were cleared and Dora could see a few adults dancing. A few minutes later daddy dragged mummy into the centre of the room and began dancing. Dora giggled; mummy hated being the centre of attention.

Three songs later Jonathan nudged a couple of bangers into her hand.

"They're all on that side of the room," he told her.

"It's so they don't 'ssociate with us," Dora said, taking aim. Swinging her arm as hard as she could, she watched the bangers sail through the air.

The other three chucked their share of the bangers too. With bated breath the children's gaze followed the banger's journey towards the ground.

'BANG!' 'POP!' The bangers made a brilliant noise and the light from them was spectacular. The pureblood snobs squealed and cried as they ran away to their parents.

The four children had long since fallen to the floor laughing when their own parents turned up glaring at them all.

* * *

><p>Remus and Sirius were laughing their heads off before I even finished my tale. I tried to frown at them but I couldn't stop my mouth turning up at the corners.<p>

"You were definitely a hellion, Nymphadora," panted out Remus once he'd gotten himself back under control.

I blushed; suddenly it didn't seem so funny if Remus thought I was childish. Especially, since I wanted to be considered his friend.

"Bet you and Sirius have done worse," I retorted as cheekily as I could muster to cover up my embarrassment.

"You bet we have!" proclaimed Sirius, still spluttering

I looked at them both curiously but Remus unfortunately announced, "Maybe, we should all have lunch."


	7. Munching Lunch

We all made our way down the stairs and towards the kitchen. All of that story telling had made me pretty hungry and Sirius, according to mum, had always had the appetite of a starving dog so he was bound to be as well. I think it would also be safe to assume that Remus, being a werewolf, would also be very hungry as well. I think I remember reading that Werewolves needed almost double the amount of food compared to humans.

"Alright, who can cook decently here?" I asked, flopping down onto a chair.

"Definitely not Sirius," Remus told her. "Unless you want food poisoning."

Sirius look offended, "Hey, I can make sandwiches and, and..."

"That's it," finished Remus, sitting carefully in a seat opposite her.

"Sandwiches actually sound good," I mused, tilting my chair back.

"Remus is a far better cook than me!" Sirius protested; he must have realised that if he admitted he could do something he would have to work. "And what about you, Nymmie? Andy's a brilliant cook and Ted is decent. So can't you whip us up something?"

I snorted in amusement, "Unless you want the food to be vaporised or the kitchen to be demolished I will advise you not to let me near any kitchen device."

Remus was looking at me in amusement.

"What?" I half snapped, he better not make fun of me.

"I'm pretty sure you can prepare a bowl of cereal," he said to me with a smile.

Before I could reply Sirius said, "Not with her 'gracefulness', the milk bottle would end up smashed and the cereal would add a new decoration to the floor."

I nodded reluctantly in agreement but leaned back further in my chair so I could get in poking distance of him. That didn't work well. I was completely unbalanced and with a tremendous 'THUD' I hit the floor.

I dazedly lifted my head up but the world immediately spun and I tilted toward the floor again. Before my face met with the floor someone's hands had grabbed my shoulders, keeping me upright. I assumed they belonged to Sirius as I heard a clattering noise and footsteps coming my way which would be Remus.

Sure enough, I looked behind me only to see Sirius' grey-blue eyes staring concernedly back into mine.

"You okay, Nym?" he asked me, eyes roving over my face, presumably checking for any scrapes or bumps.

"'M fine," I told him, squirming away from his grasp. "I've had worse; honestly you're worse than Mum and Dad."

I successfully freed myself from Sirius clutches and was about to try and heave myself up from the grubby floor when I was helped up by none other than Remus.

"Stop it!" I protested weakly, "I told you, it's nothing!"

"I think that's for us to decide, Nymphadora," replied Remus evenly. He then proceeded to cast a diagnostic charm on me, much to my irritation but my protests were headed off early by a sharp glare from Sirius.

"Mild concussion," muttered Remus, looking intently at the result. "You also will have a nasty bump and a rather impressive bruise tomorrow."

I shrugged, like I said I've had far worse. Though, it was kind of nice to have people fussing over me, normally the only ones to do that were mum, dad and Madame Pomfrey.

"It's okay, I always carry around bruise salve," I informed the two worrywarts.

Sirius grinned at me, apparently happy that I had not broken anything and was unlikely to collapse on them.

Remus just sighed and reprimanded me gently, "You should be more careful, Nymphadora. You could have gotten seriously hurt. And don't dare make that stupid joke Sirius Black!"

Sirius pouted, upset that he couldn't use his Sirius/Serious joke. I tried to be annoyed at Remus calling me by my first name but found I honestly couldn't. My name actually sounded halfway decent coming out of his mouth unlike when my parents were scolding me.

"Don't call me Nymphadora, Remus. It's horrible." I snapped out of habit, I was now safely back in my chair though Sirius was leaning his arms rather heavily on the back of it.

I rolled my eyes at his tendency to be over protective but couldn't muster up any anger to tell him to stop it.

"I think I will make the lunch," Remus said thoughtfully. "It will be much easier and safer for us all in the long run."

Me and Sirius glared playfully at him while Remus busied himself by making lunch. Soon he had whipped us all up a nice meal of sandwiches. Not Molly Weasley standards but delicious all the same. It was a pity that Molly wasn't coming over until next week, now she was a cook.

"Your sandwiches are delicious," I said, swallowing a bite of chicken and mayonnaise.

Sirius made a sound of agreement, not adding to my comment because Remus had scolded him about his lack of manners and disgusting habits.

A faint blush tainted Remus cheeks as he reached for a sandwich.

"My father told me that all teenagers should learn how to cook so they can be more independent and not starve as soon as they leave school." He said quietly, nibbling on a ham salad sandwich.

"He had the right idea," Sirius said approvingly, grabbing another sandwich seemingly uncaring about which one he chose.

Before long we polished off Remus' mound of sandwiches. I offered to do the washing up but all I got were incredulous glances from the boys. I huffed but even I had to admit that I was lacking skills in domestic spells. Many a time, I have tried to get the dishes to wash themselves only to have them to shot everywhere or simply shattering on impact with the spell.

Pretty soon we were heading back upstairs. Remus had suggested we stay in the kitchen but Sirius shot that idea down, saying we were less likely to run into Kreacher up here. With that in mind we all rapidly made our way back to Remus' room.

Once we were all comfortable, Remus asked me, "Did your parents trust you enough to teach you to ride a broom?"

I sniffed haughtily at him, "Of course!" receiving a snigger from Sirius.


	8. Trying to get up

Remus gave me an incredulous look.

I huffed, "Well, mum was a bit iffy about it..."

* * *

><p>Date: 8th March 1981<p>

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Ted?" Andromeda asked her husband with a worried look.

Ted, who was carrying Dora on his shoulders, answered, "Of course it is! She should learn the basics of flying before she goes to Hogwarts."

"But there's flying lessons at Hogwarts," Andromeda reminded him

Ted twirled Dora around and placed her on the grass of the Tonks' back garden, letting the child wobble about, unbalanced.

"But 'Dromeda, do you really think that the flying instructor could keep an eye on Dora and the rest of the class at the same time?" Ted explained patiently. "It's an accident waiting to happen."

Andromeda frowned in concentration as she watched her young daughter skip about on the grass and then promptly trip over her own two feet. She sighed tiredly.

"You're right, Ted," Andromeda admitted.

Ted chuckled and wrapped his arms around his wife, "Of course I am, I'm always right!" Andromeda glared at him, "Fine. Most of the time?" she was still glaring, "Sometimes?" Andromeda smiled and he couldn't help but pout.

"Grow up Ted, you child is more mature than you," Andromeda chided.

Dora looked up at her parents; she had been lying on the ground trying to spot shapes in the cloud.

"Can I fly now?" Dora asked impatiently.

Ted smiled at her, "Of course, Dora. But remember to listen to me, okay?"

Dora nodded her pink and purple streaked head. Andromeda still looked worried.

"Are you absolutely sure that thing is safe?" she fretted

Ted held out the broom to her, "Dear, this is a child's broom which has safety charms and will go no higher than six feet. It's fine."

"Please mummy, I'll be good, promise," pleaded Dora, her green eyes wide open.

Andromeda smiled at her little girl, "I guess I'm out numbered."

"Yay!" cheered Dora, jumping up and down.

"Right, now come over here, stand at the side of the broom and hold your hand over it," Ted instructed.

Dora obeyed and looked up expectantly at her parents.

"Now, say 'up' and the broom will come into your hand," Andromeda told her.

Dora looked confused, "Why do I have to say 'up'? Can't I just pick it up?"

Andromeda and Ted looked at each other and smiled, their little girl was always full of questions.

Ted answered, "Well, when you first use a broom you have to command the broom to come to you so you magic works with the magic of the broom. When you say 'up' you are letting your magic know that you want it to interact with the broom."

"Cool," said Dora, looking interested. She liked to know how things worked and had once taken apart a radio just to see if she could put it back together. She couldn't.

"Go ahead, Nymphadora," said Andromeda smiling.

"Up," said Dora, staring fiercely at the broom as if daring it to disobey her. It didn't move.

"Command it to do as you say, don't ask politely," directed Andromeda.

"UP!" yelled Dora, not quite grasping the concept and leaning over the broom to make sure it would actually do something.

It certainly did do something. The Kiddie Cleansweep shot straight up into the air and hit her forehead. Dora toppled to the ground, her small hands clutching at her forehead. She cried out in pain and tears filled her jade green eyes.

Andromeda and Ted both lifted their little girl up off the ground. They were both hiding a slight smile but were more concerned with the rather magnificent bruise that was forming on Dora's forehead.

Andromeda tutted, "It's a good thing that I always carry around Bruise Salve, you always seem to need it."

Dora stuck her tongue out in response as her mother smeared the paste across the reddened area. Ted chuckled and ruffled her dark brown hair.

"Can I try again, please?" asked Dora, drawing out the 'please' so that her request was almost a whine.

Unable to resist his daughter Ted replied, "Of course, Dora, but please don't lean over it this time."

Andromeda rolled her eyes as Dora pouted. Taking a deep breath Dora stood to the side of her broom and held her hand over it, taking care to make sure that her face was not over the broom.

"Up!" she tried and was finally successful. The broom rose towards her hand which she hurriedly clasped around it, afraid that it was going to move away.

"Yay!" Dora cheered, grinning happily. She looked up into her parents' proud faces for approval.

"Well done, Nymphadora," congratulated Andromeda

"I knew you could do it!" added Ted and Andromeda snorted.

"Of course, Ted. You only put the Essence of Dittany, Bone-Knit Elixir, Essence of Murtlap and Pain Reliever in the kitchen because you wanted to check their potency."

Ted nodded with a smile, "You got it in one, dear."

Andromeda rolled her eyes and said sarcastically, "Of course you would need to check the potency. It is not like you only brewed them four days ago."

Ted shook his head and pulled Dora in for a hug, ignoring his wife, "Now let's see if we can get you off the ground."

Andromeda mock glared at Ted and leaned over Dora and showed her how to grip the broomstick. Soon enough Dora was poised, ready to take flight. It had taken a bit longer than it should have because she was so impatient and her parents were teasing each other about their first flying lessons. Apparently her father had knocked her mother off her broom when trying to get used to controlling his.

"Can I fly _now_?" whined Dora, finally grabbing her parents' attention. They were still arguing about whose fault it was that Andromeda fell off her broom.

Ted chuckled and stood back, "Maybe,"

"Da-ad!"

* * *

><p>Remus and Sirius were both howling in laughter once I'd finished. I scowled darkly at them, my hair turning violet and black in my anger.<p>

"I'm not going to tell you lot anything else if you keep on laughing at me!" I told them, still glaring daggers.

"Sorry, Nymphadora," Remus managed to choke out eventually.

"I'm not!" howled Sirius, tear forming at the corner of his eyes. "That was bloody funny!"

I couldn't help but feel upset at that comment. Yes, it was funny but surely it wasn't that funny. I rubbed my finger on the spot where the broom had hit me all those years ago.

Remus must have noticed the look that crossed my face. He nudged Sirius and hissed, "That's enough, Padfoot," nodding towards me.

Sirius stopped abruptly and flung his arm around me, "Sorry, Nymmie. If I ever get too annoying, just tell me to shut up, that's what everyone else does."

I nodded a bit shyly, still not quite sure how I should act around him. He beamed at me.

"So, Nymphadora," began Remus, I glared at him. "Did you ever get off the ground?"


	9. In the air finally

I tried to look insulted, "Of course I did!"

Sirius laughed and said disbelievingly, "Considering you have an extraordinary amount of accidents with both feet firmly on flat ground, Nymmie, I find it hard to believe that you can fly without falling off."

"Well I can!" I insisted and proceeded to explain how the rest of that day went.

(scene break)

"Now, Nymphadora, just push yourself off the ground and hover there, your father and I will show you what to do from there," instructed Andromeda, mounting her own broom.

Dora shoved herself off the ground and shot forwards like a bullet uncontrollably.

Andromeda chased after her. Once she caught up she yelled, "Make the broom stop!"

"I don't know how!" responded a much panicked Dora, her hair turning white in her fear.

"Will the broom to stop Dora!" said Ted, running below them and taking off on his broom as well.

Dora tried to will the broom to stop and it slowed down a little but didn't stop and it was still going frighteningly fast for the seven year old although the charms on it prevented it from going above 15mph.

"Help!" she wailed, noticing that a tree was now approaching her.

Andromeda and Ted had also realised this and looked to each other in horror.

"Jerk your broom up!" called Ted desperately

Dora yanked as hard as she could upwards and narrowly avoided a tree. She did a loop de loop on the broom before sliding off it. Ted caught her just before she hit the ground, even though there was now a safety bubble around Dora and the broom to prevent any injuries, it was an instinctive reaction.

They all landed together and Ted checked on Dora while Andromeda tried to get her breathing under control. Ted soon declared that Dora was fine but Andromeda's face was as white as the fluffy clouds above them.

"I think that's enough for one day," pronounced Andromeda, eyeing Dora's broom warily.

Dora's face fell, "What? No! Please, mummy, just another go, please?"

Ted's face turned to his wife and pleaded with her as well, "Come on, Dromeda!"

"It's too dangerous," was Andromeda's stubborn reply

"She was just over-enthusiastic, that fall would have cured that,"

"No."

Dora's head whipped back and forth as if she was watching a tennis match. Her face fell, it sounded like her mother was going to win this argument.

Andromeda was glaring at Ted when she noticed that her daughter's hair had changed from its bright pink to a dull blue, showing that she was upset. Andromeda didn't know what to do; she was afraid that Dora would hurt herself but she also knew that Dora had been looking forward to this and it was a necessary skill to have.

Eventually, she reluctantly nodded; to Dora's delight if her hair colour was anything to go by (It was bubblegum pink and quite long).

"Please be careful," was all her mother said in a defeated tone. "And no higher than your father." Her dad was five and a half feet while her mum was five foot ten

Dora nodded her head, she would agree to anything at the minute if only to get back on her broom.

"Don't go fast either."

"Yes mummy."

"And listen to us. Do not do your own thing."

"_Yes_, mummy," Dora said through gritted teeth.

"None of that attitude either or you'll be going in and learning definitions of magic." Andromeda scolded Dora lightly, smiling to show that she was kidding-sort of.

Dora looked horrified, get trapped inside _learning _on such a lovely day when the sun light sparkled off the windows and danced among the trees? There was no way that she would do that so Dora nodded frantically.

Ted just looked amused at the interaction between mother and daughter.

"Let's just get her on the thing properly to start off with, shall we my dear?" Ted said grinning.

Andromeda rolled her eyes and Ted motioned to Dora to mount her broom.

Ted adjusted her grip and told her, "stand on your toes, push yourself off the ground slowly and you won't zoom off into the tree."

Dora attempted to do as she was taught and was soon hovering in the air after a slightly jerky take-off. Ted clapped and Andromeda smiled but still looked nervous.

Dora managed a shaky wave, making the broom drop about a foot but controlled it so she was higher in the air.

"Okay, Dora," shouted Ted. "Lean forwards slightly and after a few seconds dip the broom down and try to land."

Barely any time had passed when Dora landed her broom heavily, beaming in pleasure. She had managed to go forwards for the length of the garden and didn't jerk at all!

Ted look proud and Andromeda just looked plain relieved that her daughter was on flat ground again. Well, until Dora managed to trip over her broom and land on her bum.

"I told you she could do it," boasted Ted. "She takes it after me."

Andromeda snorted loudly, "Wasn't it you who almost speared Madame Hooch on your school broom?"

"I was trying to do a dive and didn't notice her!" defended Ted hotly

"Of course not," said Andromeda drily. "I am definitely the better flyer out of us."

Ted stubbornly shook his head much like his daughter did, "Who nearly fell off her broom when racing Catherine Potter?"

Andromeda groaned, "That's because one of you idiotic, lump of a friend decided to shoot in my path. It was not my fault!"

Dora had gotten bored with her parent's conversation very quickly. Although it was amusing to hear them bicker like this and tell stories about their schooldays, she would much rather be up in the air, learning more about flying.

Deciding to take matters into her own hands and mounted her broom, taking off slightly easier this time. She hovered in the air, waiting patiently for her parents to realise that she was still here. Eventually she got bored and tried to fly in a broad circle in the garden. It was slow going as Dora wasn't very confidant on the broom yet but she got back to her parents in one piece, only losing her balance in the air twice.

Ted and Andromeda were gaping at her. Then smiles formed on both of their faces.

"Well done, Dora!" congratulated Ted, beaming.

Andromeda smiled fondly at her, "You showed us up, darling," then her voice grew stern, "If you ever fly a broom again when we're not watching, Nymphadora, you'll be in big trouble!"

(Scene break)

Sirius clapped like the goofball he is.

"Sirius, you do realise that it's only a memory and that I accomplished that years ago?" I said amusedly.

Sirius shrugged and Remus asked me, "Do you enjoying flying?"

"Yeah," I replied.

"Did you ever play on your House team?" inquired Sirius, cocking his head to one side, very like a dog.

"Nah, don't have that much skill. It's just relaxing and a hell of a lot of fun to race people. Though my Cleansweep 260 isn't the best at speed anymore."


	10. Is that a baby?

**AN: Sorry I took so long with this chapter! Inspiration fled for a bit but I caught it eventually and the result is this chapter**

"Any specific memories you want to hear about?" I asked the two of them?

Remus shook his head. "It's not my place to ask. It was Sirius who wanted to know," he explained.

I frowned slightly at him; he could ask if he wanted to, but looked at Sirius, waiting for an answer.

Sirius shrugged and replied, "I want to hear about everything."

"That sounds really creepy," I informed him with a smile and thought for a bit. What memory after Flying stood out the most? "Oh! Oh!"

"Thought of a memory, Nymphadora?" Remus inquired, leaning towards me.

I pulled a face at the use of my horrid first name but responded anyway, "Yeah, I hadn't seen you lot in ages and-"

"There was war going on!" interrupted Sirius indignantly.

"I know that now," I pointed out. "But try telling a seven year old the real reason for her 'favouritest' cousin's lack of visits."

"Hmm, I don't think 'I'm busy being a front line fighter against Death Eaters for the Ministry and the Order and could be killed at any point' would cut it," said Sirius mockingly

"Good point," Remus said grinning. "A little girl like you wouldn't have accepted that."

I blushed from the roots to the tips of my hair. Did he do that sort of thing on purpose? Was he flirting?

"Well," I continued, not looking at either of them. "You lot finally came back around...with Baby Harry!"

* * *

><p>Date: 15th May 1981<p>

Dora was busy skipping around the front garden with a bit of rope. She wished that she could leave the garden and skip down the path like the muggle children do but both of her parents had put their feet firmly down on that matter. She was forbidden to go past the wall the surrounded the house.

Dora couldn't help but feel envious of the muggle children. They didn't have to worry if her parents would come home or not after work. They were allowed to go to all sorts of places without wondering if it was going to be destroyed by Death Eaters. They could play together without suspecting each other of being an enemy. They didn't even know what Death Eater's were!

'Crack, BANG, pop, CRACK, pop'

Came the sounds of apparition. As per instruction by her parents, Dora fled inside calling for her father.

"Daddy, daddy! There's a load of people apparitin' outside!" she yelled.

Ted peered around for the living room door, with his wand raised.

"Stay in the kitchen Dora," he told her in a voice that Dora knew not to argue with.

She was soon sitting on a chair in the kitchen table, listening earnestly. Mum and Dad had gone over the escape plan tons of times but she needed to pay attention if she wanted to know whether to flee or not. Dora strained her ears as must as she could but she could still only hear bits of the conversation.

"...when you...Dora?"

"Last year...blue...picture. You and Andy-"

There was a lot of shuffling and stomping of feet in the corridor. Dora thought she heard a little whimper but then she heard the deeper voice of-

"Sirius!" she squealed, running out of the kitchen with a big smile on her face.

Sirius swung her round and gathered her into a hug.

"Hello, little one! How are you?" greeted Sirius, smiling widely as he settled Dora on his hip. Dora grinned toothily at him and tried to reply.

"Can't I get a hug too?" demanded Marlene playfully, tickling Dora. Dora squealed in delight. She turned around to see Remus; she smiled widely at him, and the Potters (not James and Lily anymore) with a little bundle. Peter Whatshisname was there too but he didn't like Dora much.

"What's that?" she asked curiously, pointing to the bundle Lily was holding.

"Who you mean," corrected James, smiling goofily.

Dora cocked her head curiously like a puppy; "Huh?" was her eventual response.

"I thought you were smart, Baby cousin," teased Sirius.

Ted smiled, "Is this the new addition you wrote about?" he asked.

"Yes," proclaimed Lily proudly, her emerald eyes glowing with happiness.

Dora ignored the adults' small talk as she tried standing on her tiptoes to see whoever this small person was (she had figured out that it was a baby).

James chuckled at her antics and knelt down beside her.

"This is Harry, Dora." He told her, showing her the little person wrapped up in blankets.

Dora peered closely at the small boy. He had a tuft of messy black hair like James' and was really tiny. She didn't wonder how someone could be so tiny like other children would. Babies had to be tiny if they were to fit inside their mummy's tummy after all. He was really cute. Harry Potter opened his eyes and stared right at her. They were exactly like Lily's. Harry stared at her quite seriously and then, like she had passed some test, gurgled happily and tried to grab her hair.

Dora bent her head back but offered her hand to the little boy, who grabbed in tightly. He giggled.

"He's cute," she told James.

James gasped in fake horror, "No son of mine will be described as 'cute'! He is a very handsome baby boy, obviously as he takes after his daddy." The leader of the Marauders and enemy of Voldemort then proceeded to make funny faces to make his son laugh.

Lily rolled her eyes at the hopeless case that was her husband and smiled at her, saying, "I agree with you."

Sirius and Remus snorted loudly.

"I am far more handsome than any Potter!" declared Sirius pompously

"I agree!" said Marlene, smiling cheekily and kissing Sirius on the cheek.

Remus rolled his eyes and muttered, "Neither of you could be called modest. Let's hope Harry takes more after Lily."

Peter looked torn, unsure who to side with. Silly man.

Ted chuckled, "It's normal to be proud of a son. Or daughter," he said, ruffling Dora's hair.

* * *

><p>"I forgot about that day!" said Sirius in amazement<p>

"You forgot a lot of things, Padfoot," Remus teased, his eyes glowing with mirth.

Sirius' eyes darkened, "Not on purpose," he muttered.

That sobered Remus up pretty quickly.

"Sorry, Sirius I-"

Sirius shook his head. "It okay," he assured his brother. He then turned to me, "We were planning on making you be like his older sister slash aunt sort of person."

"That would have been nice," I commented wistfully. "I would have seen you lot more often."


	11. trick or Treat?

Sirius nodded. "It wasn't really our fault though," he said grimly.

"I know," I told him. "But I really loved having all of you guys around and still do."

Remus sighed heavily, "Only two loyal out of six, well three out of seven if we included you Nymphadora."

I pulled a face at him while Sirius closed his eyes as if remembering something painful.

Feeling bad for them I quickly said, "I've got another couple of stories I remember." Too bad the topic wasn't exactly cheerful.

Sirius perked up. "What?" he asked eagerly like a puppy.

* * *

><p>Date: 31st October 1981<p>

"Ted, this really can't be a good idea," fretted Andromeda, tweaking Dora's black hair with orange and blood red tips.

Ted sighed; he knew he would have to go over this at least another few times. "She can't miss out on trick or treating, 'Dromeda. It wouldn't be right."

"But it's basically night and that's when Voldemort-" Andromeda hissed

"I know, but he has been lying low the last few weeks." Ted explained

"Halloween would be a perfect night for him to strike!"

"Come on, Annie. Why would he strike here?"

Andromeda threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "Why did he hit Chingford? Or Leyburn? To cause despair and destruction! It's not safe."

"I'll be with her, let her have some fun. Please," pleaded Ted softly.

Andromeda knew that she would say yes before Ted even responded to her comment. She knew it wasn't right to keep her child locked up but it was dangerous and she didn't want to lose anyone else.

"I'll be good, mummy, honest!" chirped Dora, swinging her plastic bag where she would but all her sweets.

Ted looked down at his all too innocent looking daughter. "Sirius and James gave you pranks to pull again, didn't they?" Ted said, trying to sound stern.

"Nuh-uh, Remus gave me them."

Her parents' eyebrows rose at that. Remus Lupin, the polite, shy, studious Marauder? Impossible.

Dora nodded her head furiously. "Sirius gave the stuff to James to give to Remus who gave them to me. See, Sirius didn't give me them!"

Ah the logic of eight year olds.

Muttering about inane cousins who shouldn't be allowed near impressionable children Andromeda shooed Ted and Dora to the front door. Dora tried to filch some sweets from the bowl on the table in the hall but Ted swatted her hand away, telling her that she'd get enough while trick or treating.

Andromeda smiled at father and daughter bantering with each other and has to grab a camera to picture this moment.

Dora, her face pale, eyes dark and donned in a white collared shirt and elaborate cape looks freakishly like a baby vampire. The fangs she decided to morph in for the evening just add to the kind of cute but scary look.

Ted had decided to wear his old Hogwarts hat (she thought she had chucked that out ages ago, where does he hide it?), and looks particularly ridiculous. The stupid grin doesn't help much.

"Be back before nine," was all Andromeda said to the pair, kissing Ted's cheek and neatening Dora's black skirt.

"Kay mummy!" says Dora happily, dragging her father out of the house.

The neighbourhood was more or less chaos at this time of year. No cars dared drive around for fear of running over some little child. Children seemed to travel in swarms. A particularly mean looking bunch of boys dressed as pirates pushed Dora out of their way.

'Thud' her bum made contact with the curb. Ted was about to tell them off but Dora's eyes flash black and chucked something from her pocket at them.

It was that slime stuff that was solid when you rolled it in your hand but gooey when left alone or chucked at someone as those boys discovered.

'Splat!'

The boys howled in fear, disgust and anger. They whirled around to see who did it but Ted had already dragged Dora onto the next house, both of them grinning like Cheshire cats.

"Trick or treat?" she repeated at every front door. Everyone had congratulated her on her costume and had a good chuckle at Ted.

After a good hour and a half of trick or treating, Dora and Ted returned to their home. It was a relatively normal Halloween night for once, which was odd. No Voldemort activity at all.

* * *

><p>Obviously Remus noticed Sirius' rapidly darkening face and quickly exclaimed, "I do not remember ever encouraging your mischievous streak, Nymphadora."<p>

I shoved him to the floor with a scowl on my face.

Sirius smiled at us and informed Remus, "You seem to have a faulty memory, mate. I can remember seeing you give her a bag of 'tricks' as you called it."

Remus look very affronted and tried to get up with some dignity from the floor. Pity, Sirius would let him and promptly cast a shoelace tying jinx which made him fall to the floor with a 'flump'.

I looked down interestedly at the fallen idiot. "Do I make that much noise when I fall?" I asked honestly.

Sirius cocked his head to one side and shook his head. I sighed in relief but he grinned.

"You usually make a lot more. By bringing all sorts of stuff down with you," he told me.

I huffed and made as if to shove him off the bed to but he leaned out of the way and grabbed my arms so that they were held out in front of me. Sirius just grinned evilly as I swore at him and tried to struggle out of his grip.

"Ah, ah, ah. It's not nice to shove people Nymmie. Don't you agree Remus?" Sirius said cheerfully.

I felt Remus come up behind me and chuckle. "Yes I agree."

Then the two men started to tickle me mercilessly. I squealed and kicked out at them but they didn't give up. Evil gits.

Remus gave up after a few minutes once I had started pleading and Sirius gave up once I felt tears at the corners of her eyes.

The latter smirked at me and wagged a finger at me, "That'll teach you to behave."

My only response was a rather rude hand gesture that my mum would have punished me for but it only made Sirius chuckle and Remus tut disapprovingly.


	12. Always Darkest

"I bet you made a very adorable vampire, Nymmie!" crowed Sirius.

Remus smiled. "I am not taking you up on a bet that I know I have already lost." He said. That made me blush; I wasn't used to this type of banter.

Sirius' face suddenly sobered. "I remember this day," he said quietly.

I really wanted to hug him or tell him that what happened that night wasn't his fault but I didn't know if he would accept that sort of thing from me. I mean, I'm his baby cousin who he barely knows and remembers.

"Why don't you continue on with that night, Nymphadora?" Remus suggested, looking worriedly at his best mate.

I nodded quickly, eager to move onto happier topics.

"Well, it must've been soon after you left me and dad came back…"

Date: 31st October 1981

Ted had swung Dora onto his shoulders as they plodded slowly back to the house, all excitement for Halloween had more or less vanished and now the eight year old was tired out.

"Did you have fun, Dora?" Ted asked, hoping his daughter was not asleep; he did not want to be scolded by his wife in front of his daughter, again.

"Mmm, yeah. Loads 'a sweets," replied Dora through a jaw breaking yawn.

Ted chuckled, "We'll have to hide them from mum,"

Dora nodded, just wanting to sleep now. They slowly approached the house, all the lights were on.

"What the?" muttered Ted, shifting Dora so he was carrying her in his arms.

"What's the matter, papa?" asked Dora worriedly, all sorts of creepy things happened on Halloween night or so she'd been told.

Ted just shook his head at her and quickened his pace. He set Dora down on the ground when they reached the gate. Andromeda met them at the door.

"Oh, Dora! Ted!" she cried out, hugging each of them in turn.

Dora was incredibly confused, why was mum greeting them as if they'd disappeared for years and years?

"Ted, Sirius came by and he was acting very strange. You should've heard what he said to me," babbled Andromeda, more or less dragging the two of them into the warmth of the house.

Dora noticed that there were cleaning supplies all over the place and the floor was shining as if it had just been washed. There was a lemony bleach scent lingering in the air. Dora wrinkled up her nose and sneezed, the clean smell made her nose itch. The sneeze made her lose concentration and her appearance turned back to normal, Dora was too tired to add more colour to her hair.

"What's with all of this?" asked Ted, waving his hand around the very clean area. Dora did not see her wellies at the foot of the stairs, mum must have moved them back upstairs which Dora thought was quite pointless considering that she would need them tomorrow.

"I needed something to take my mind off things," explained Andromeda. What on earth was she talking about?

"Off what?" asked Ted curiously, only a couple of things set Andromeda off like this; tests, her family and hospital appointments being a few of them.

Andromeda gave a pointed look towards Dora.

Ted suddenly clapped his hands and announced, "Time for bed, Dora! Go get into your pyjamas and I'll come up to tuck you in a bit, little bloodsucker." He gave her a nudge towards the stairs.

Dora ran up the stairs and bounced onto her bed so her parents would think she was doing as she was told. When she heard movement from below her (her room was above the living room) she crept down the stairs, praying that they wouldn't creak or groan (She didn't fall once, aren't you proud?). Noticing that the door was open just enough so that she could hear their voices she settled herself on the stairs to eavesdrop.

"..Sirius, he was here..."

"...when? Why didn't he stay?"

"...know. He was awfully upset and..."

"..is a 'Wormtail'?"

"...do you know where James and Lily are? It sounded like they were in..."

"...disappeared of the face of the earth a few weeks back. No one knows..."

What on earth had got her parents so upset? Sirius was here? Dora felt extremely annoyed that he hadn't hung around to say hi to her. He was her most favourite person in the world and he didn't even wait to say hi! The big meanie!

Dora was really annoyed now. Her previously limp mousey brown hair was turning deep red I her annoyance. It wasn't fair! She wanted to stomp her feet but didn't want to draw attention to herself.

"What should we do, Ted?" asked Andromeda worriedly as her parents came out of the Living Room.

Ted had a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Nothing until tomorrow. We all need a good night's sleep," he said firmly.

Then, as luck would have it, both of them turned and immediately caught sight of her.

"Nymphadora!" exclaimed Andromeda and her face said that she was about to scold Dora but Ted put a stop to that before she could begin.

"Little girls need to be in bed," Ted told her and held her upside down so she shrieked. He soon held her the right way up again and she snuggled into him.

"Daddy, where's Siri?" she asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes

"Don't know, sweetheart," murmured Ted. "We'll figure this out tomorrow."

"So, did you have any idea what was going on?" asked Sirius after a moment's silence.

I looked sadly at him. "None at all," I replied. "But something didn't seem right. You always stayed and had a little chat with me no matter what. And mum and dad rarely worried for you."

We were all silent for a moment, each of us recounting our own memories of those two days.

"I didn't know you cared so much for me!" joked Sirius, as he always did to relieve tension.

I smiled widely at him, eager to cheer him up, "Of course! You were like an older brother to me!"

Remus coughed lightly, making me and Sirius jump. He was so quiet I had forgotten he was even there!

"What next?" he asked hesitantly.

I really did not want to recount this next memory. The whole Halloween of '81 was definitely something I wanted obliviated from my memory forever.


	13. Injustice

**AN: I am BAAAAACK peopley-peoples! Summer is finally upon us and exams are overrrrrr**

**And okay I'm late again updating but I'm lazy. IT'S ACTUALLY SUNNY IN NORTHERN IRELAND. So I have been outside and enjoying the warm weather =)**

I bit my lip and saw my hair turn that horrid shade of orange brown. The two Marauders just stared at me suspiciously even though I turned it back to purple as soon as could control my emotions. Thankfully, they did not know the meaning of all the colours of my hair, yet.

"Um, well, that would be the next morning when we all found out..." I stuttered, looking down at my hands. She should have just skipped this memory!

Date: 1st November 1981

"No Ted I won't believe it! I can't believe it!" Andromeda shrilly shouted.

That was what Dora woke up to. It was not nice, especially since she didn't get a lot of sleep last night because she kept hearing the 'Bang-crack-bang' of fireworks. Didn't the silly people not know when the fifth of November was? It was even in a poem!

"I know 'Dromeda but you have to admit-it looks pretty serious." Ted tried to rationalise

"No! Sirius would not do something like that! James was his brother in all but blood!"

"I know this doesn't make sense..."

"Too damn right it doesn't!"

"But 'Dromeda, the Ministry-"

"Is full of idiots! Just because of Bellatrix and Regulus they think that all Blacks are like that!"

"I know, dear-"

"Don't you 'dear' me Theodore Tonks!"

"You have to admit that you and Sirius were really the only exception to the Blacks, darling..."

"Were? Were?" Andromeda said shrilly. "Sirius still is a 'Black Sheep'!"

"If he's innocent they'll set him free. Though you can't deny what he did to Pettigrew..."

"That's what I don't understand!"

"Mummy? Why are you shouting?" Dora asked hesitantly. Her mother looked a mess, eyes wild and hair looking rather like that bird's nest Dora found last week. She was scaring Dora a little bit, okay maybe more than a little bit. Dora hugged Mr Stuff, her yellow teddy bear, tightly. She didn't like it when her parents shouted, it was scary and made her tummy feel bad.

"GRAH!" Andromeda yelled and stormed over to the fireplace muttering something as the fire flared a fluorescent green. Where was she going?

"Mummy?" Dora called then turned to Ted. "Daddy, what's wrong with mummy?"

Ted bit his lip, what exactly do you tell your eight year old daughter that her favourite cousin had got himself in trouble with the law, possibly for murder?

"Daddy?" Dora asked persistently, what was wrong with everyone today? What had happened? Her face turned into a worried expression, "Did someone get hurt?"

Ted closed his eyes to prevent Dora from seeing his tears. James and Lily, dead by the hands of a stupid mad man. Where Sirius and Pettigrew came into this he was unsure. And little Harry, how could he forget that Harry had ended all of this? A fifteen year old baby! He sat down and patted his lap. Dora climbed onto it and clung to his shirt front like a baby monkey.

"Sirius has got into some trouble, little one." Ted hesitantly explained

Dora cocked her head to one side, "Why?"

"I'm not sure," Ted sighed, deciding that it would be better if Andromeda was home when they broke the news about James and Lily's death.

"Is that why Mummy's upset?"

"Yes, the Aurors weren't too happy with him."

"But he's an Auror too!" Dora exclaimed indignantly.

Ted smiled at his small daughter. "Even grownups make mistake and need to be punished no matter what job they have."

"Like the Dead Eaters?" Dora asked innocently.

"Yes, like the Death Eaters," Ted said softly. "Not that they'll be giving us much more trouble."

"Huh?" Dora asked, still confused.

"Voldemort is gone, Dora." Ted said and he couldn't help smiling slightly despite the cost of the celebrations.

Her large eyes widened comically (perps of being able to control small part of her body at will). "Really, Daddy?" she asked excitedly, momentarily forgetting about Sirius. "Does that mean I can ride my bike outside the garden now? And make muggle friends?"

Ted frowned slightly, "Maybe, sweetheart. We'll have to wait for everything to die down first, okay?"

"Okay," Dora said happily, she could wait a bit longer. Then she screwed up her face. "Why aren't James an' Lily an' Harry an' Sirius an' Remus not coming round to celebrate? Are we going to have a party?"

Ted's heart broke. How was he supposed to explain this? It was tough enough to explain Marlene's death to her last year and he had suspected that Dora hadn't really understood though she had stopped asking about her.

Where was his wife when he needed her?

"Mum came home 'bout half an hour later," I explained quietly. "After she heard that you'd already been sentenced. She was devastated."

Remus' eyes had darkened and Sirius was facing away from us both, his shoulders shaking. Remus reached out a hand and touched his shoulder but Sirius just shrugged it away.

"I never did forget Marlene," I admitted, how could I? She had been Sirius' other half and one cool girl!

Remus smiled tightly, grief very apparent in his eyes.

I gulped.

"I can leave, if you want." I told them, standing up.

"No," came Sirius' hoarse voice (He still wasn't looking at either of them).

"Um, okay," I replied, sitting back down and feeling more awkward than usual.

There was no conversation for several minute and I felt really out of place. What was I supposed to do? Comfort them? I didn't know.

"How did you take the news?" asked Remus quietly, lifting his head to look at me. He looked ten years older.

"Not well," I admitted remembering by disbelief, anger and temper tantrum over the news. "I didn't want to believe it."

Remus managed to produce a small grin and I thought I heard a soft snort from Sirius.

"Mum never stopped believing that you were innocent, Sirius," I thought I should add. "And neither did me or dad. It was just so wrong."

"True," agreed Remus, looking slightly guilty. "Why spend all that time defying your parents' wishes and being outrageous and annoying only to follow their rules after a few years?"

Sirius finally turned around, his eyes red, but no one commented on it. "Thanks, guys." And he even managed to crack a small grin.

"I think we should take a break," Remus said decidedly. "Come on, Nymphadora."

"What about-" I started but Remus interrupted me (a first for him).

He shook his head at me and whispered, "Leave him be for a moment, he'll join us when he's ready."

I nodded. "Alright then!" I said in an overly cheerful voice, "Let's make some grub!"

Remus chuckled, which made me shiver. "I think I'll do the cooking of the 'grub' Nymphadora."

"What am meant to do, then?" I asked indignantly.


End file.
